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No Season Like Snow Season
Amusement parks used to be a summertime diversion, a place for children and their families go when the school year concluded. No more.
Double Dale
Over successive April weekends I rode the two new rollercoasters at different Cedar Fair properties in the United States, the similarly-named Intimidator at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion, Doswell, Virginia. Intimidator is 232ft tall, while Intimidator 305 towers 305ft. Was I intimidated by Intimidator? Nah, it's my job.
Spins & Spills
Last summer I visited the historic Sylvan Beach Amusement Park in Sylvan Beach, New York, and was pleased to find a Rotor. I hadn't ridden a Rotor in years. Riding the Rotor gives me the spins.
Year to Volunteer
Recently I was at Florida's Walt Disney World as the Disney launched a promotion to celebrate the spirit of volunteer service called Give a Day, Get a Disney Day. The aim is to inspire families to volunteer in their communities by rewarding them with a free one-day admission to a Disney park in the United States.
Turn the music down - I can't hear the ride!
Two trends of late have me either smiling or scratching my head. I'm talking about the practice of re-theming and re-introducing existing rides and adding soundtracks to the ride experience.
Snowed In
Suffering from a bad case of WPD, I'm looking out my office window at about two feet of snow on the ground. It may be wishful thinking, but it reminds me of last summer when I was looking out from my hotel balcony.
Jurassic Paul
Over the years many parks have promoted attractions themed to dinosaurs. For example, there's Epcot's Universe of Energy Pavilion's ride through a primeval world filled with dinosaurs. Another is Islands of Adventure's Jurassic Park River Adventure and Pteranodon Flyers ride. Then there's the DinoLand USA area in Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Just Horsin' Around
This was to be my big Park Hoppin' adventure of the year, eight days visiting parks and attractions in middle America. It was a glorious part of my 52-week summer vacation, which is what this job feels like.
The Water Ride Arms Race
The Shoot-the-Chutes first appeared in 1817 when the Jardin Ruggieri park in Paris introduced Saut du Niagara, or Niagara Jump. The ride featured a drop of more than 50ft. Paul Boynton popularised the ride he first called Shoot-the-Chutes at his Sea Lion Park at Coney Island in 1897.
Farewell Free Beer!
Ever since it had been announced last year, I had been looking forward to experiencing Manta, the new B&M flying coaster at SeaWorld Orlando. Not just for the ride, but for the theming.
Mad About Monsters
This was to be a special day for me. Earlier in my park-going career, in March of 1981, I attended the media preview of a quirky new dark boat ride at Six Flags Over Georgia, Monster Plantation. It was Disneyesque in quality, the first dark ride of this calibre outside of a Disney park.
Goin' to the Dogs
Don't you just love a parade? Like the Celebrate! A Dream Come True Parade at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom or the Glow in the Park Parade at Six Flags? But even if you hate parades, you will enjoy Ocean City's annual Doo Dah Parade, a parade to celebrate the end of the tax season. It's the most sincere parade of all.
Boardwalk Blues
New York's Coney Island opens for the season each year on Palm Sunday. This year that was April 5. I was there, as it is the symbolic kick-off for the start of the amusement park season in this part of the world. But this year was different. Although the sun was shining, the area had a patina of gloom.
Park Idol
American Idol is the most-watched TV show in America. It's modelled after the original British talent show, which I think was called Anglo-Saxon Idol. Something like that. Now, at Walt Disney World in Florida, visitors can enjoy their own “Idol” encounter.
The American Idol Experience places guests at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the spotlight, as they audition for a place in the park’s daily musical showcase, or they can judge the performance of others.
Dreaming Of Theming
When the original Disneyland opened in California back in 1955, it wrote the book on theming for amusement parks. America’s first regional theme park, Six Flags Over Texas, opened in 1961, and was themed to the six nations that have had sovereignty over some or all of Texas over the years. The theming was pervasive.
Into The Wild
In the November 2002 issue of Park World I wrote about Legoland California's Driving School, which allows "pre-teens to feel empowered as they test their driving skills on city streets complete with Lego stoplights." Now it was time for me to test my driving skills, but not on city streets and not with stoplights. During the off-season you may wish to try this yourself.
You Can Bank On This
Because parks try to differentiate their rollercoasters from similar rides for marketing purposes, they often establish a new record for height, speed, number of loops and so on. We call these bragging rights, and I for one take them very seriously. Or as seriously as one can for something intended primarily for entertainment. When new bragging rights are established, we have the making of a Roller Coaster Arms Race.
Vanishing Act
What is going on with American theme parks? They're dropping like flies. Recently I visited Cypress Gardens Adventure Park, Winter Haven, Florida, the day before it was due to close and have all 38 rides removed. Unless I get a hankerin' to stare at their banyon tree, guess I won't return for a while; not gonna happen.
Burn Baby Learn
The 2008 season was full of disasters for coastal parks in the UK and on both coasts in America.
Zip-A-Dee-Do-Ride
At a height of 6,288ft, Mount Washington in northern New Hampshire is the tallest mountain in the eastern United States. Its motto, "home of the world's worst weather," seems apt. On the balmy summer day I was there the temperature at the top was just above freezing with gusty winds. During the winter it is in a deep freeze with frequent blinding hurricane force snow storms.
Riding Astride
I now count 46 variations in my list of rollercoaster types, and perhaps the hottest style these days is the sit-astride coaster. These include the Vekoma Motorbike Coaster, Intamin Family Launch Coaster, Schäfer Amusement Technology's motorcycle version and Zamperla's MotoCoaster.
Maple Leaf Coasting
I returned recently from Toronto where I visited Canada's Wonderland and I rode their new mega-coaster, Behemoth, pictured here. I love Toronto. Bustling, clean, everything works; it's like New York City run by the Swiss.
Rockin’ Ruben
What if someone built a venue filled with statues of prize-winning swine and called it Hard Rock Pork? No? Then what if someone built a venue paying homage to late 20th Century music, filled it with themed rides, and named it Hard Rock Park? A better idea, for sure, and now it’s reality.
Water, Water, Everywhere
While strolling through Aquatica recently, the shimmering new waterpark at SeaWorld Orlando, I was reminded of Sloppy Lagoon, an old ditty by Spike Jones:
Water Lu, she lives with the fishes, Water Lu, her kiss is delicious,
I love her with passion but she's always busy splashin',
Water Lu, drip, drip, drip
Coney Island of the Mind
In 1958, at the dawn of the theme park era, Lawrence Ferlinghetti published a book of poetry which has since become a modern classic, entitled A Coney Island of the Mind. I purchased a copy because I mistakenly thought it was about Coney Island, then the Holy Grail of amusement parks.
Coaster Countdown
The new TEA/ERA Attendance report – now available here – is filled with Top 10 lists. What a great idea! It seemed like time to compile my own Top 10. But of what? I could offer my own Top 10 list of parks, Top 10 waterparks, Top 10 dark rides, even a Top 10 of terrific, tried and tested alliterations.
Mermaid Mania
Six months after discovering America, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, sailing near the Dominican Republic, reported seeing three mermaids, and described them as “not half as beautiful as they are painted.”
On the Boardwalk
To its credit, Hersheypark was recently voted the number one park in the US outside Orlando by the TripAdvisor travel group. But TripAdvisor's geography is twisted.
On the road again
Four parks in four days; that's park hopping. Recently I drove to New England to visit Quassy, Lake Compounce, Six Flags New England and The Great Escape (which borders New England). I enjoyed four distinct adventures that confirmed the health of the amusement industry in North America.
I am the Walrus
When Huss unveiled its concept for the Topple Tower at the IAAPA trade show in 2002, I was fascinated. Imagine the Leaning Tower of Pisa run amok. We've all seen observation towers and drop towers, but a 63-foot tower that both spins and sways? Huss rides are good, but this was inspired.
Coastal Crisis?
Back in the early '70s I began photographing and writing about amusement parks because I was concerned they would all soon disappear. Traditional amusement parks were being bulldozed, and shopping malls and condominiums were rising in their place. They're no fun.
The Drive To Dive
My first encounter with a Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) Dive Machine was a few years ago at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England, when I climbed aboard Oblivion. What a glorious idea, to ride a rollercoaster that dove 197 feet straight down into a black hole in the ground! We exited, of course, and returned immediately to the loading platform. Short and sweet, it was an inspired one-trick-pony of a coaster.
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Year-round coasting has been an aspiration of mankind for centuries. No? OK, then year-round coasting has been a goal of mine for several years now and finally I had the opportunity to enjoy a rollercoaster with snow on the ground. In the process I discovered a ride that, while widely known within the ski industry, has yet to be fully discovered by many amusement park operators. You can read about it elsewhere in this issue.
Mad Cowboy Disease
In the Western United States during the late 1800s, cattle were driven to market along the old Chisholm Trail. The trail stretched from Southern Texas northward to Abilene, Wichita, and eventually to Newton, Kansas, where they were shipped eastward. The adventure-packed life of a cowboy always appealed to me, so just last month I decided to trace part of the Chisholm Trail.
Back to the Future
Here it is, the beginning of the season, and I’m having still flashbacks to the winter’s trade shows. One of my greatest pleasures when visiting an exhibition is discovering new, innovative attractions. I love innovation, at least when it works well. But it doesn’t always.
Sweet Dreams
Recently the folks at Walt Disney World invited me there to learn more about their “Year of a Million Dreams” promotion. Is that a million dreams in total, or one for each guest? It would be nice if it were all just for me, but since I'm not greedy and was just going to be there one day, I went in search of - do the math with me here - 2,740 dreams.
Airborne in Indiana
Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Indiana, was the only major theme park in America that I hadn’t experienced until recently. As the season was coming to an end, I finally visited and met the town’s namesake, pictured here (he’s the one with the beard).
Going with Gravity
Discovering the origins of the outdoor amusement industry is fascinating. So on a crisp November day I visited Reading, Pennsylvania, to discover the site of the Mount Penn Gravity Railroad that operated from 1890 through to 1923. It is a predecessor to modern rollercoasters.
Quosting in Quebec
It was picture-perfect weather, the beginning of a glorious day. Pilot Bob and I had chosen this day to fly to La Ronde Parc in Montreal because the weather was predicted to be excellent for a small plane flight, and because I wanted to photograph Goliath, the park’s new Bolliger & Mabillard coaster, in bright sun.
The end of the Rollercoaster Arms Race?
While some may consider riding a rollercoaster a preventable trauma, I’ve always enjoyed it. So when Six Flags president and CEO Mark Shapiro told me, “We’re going to stop buying $20 million rollercoasters,” I was momentarily overjoyed, expecting him to now buy bigger and faster $25 and $30 million dollar rides. But that was not his intention.
